Rachel Dratch srats in laugh-fest 'Rail! Spin!'

Monday, July 14, 2014 12:05 AM

FILE - This Nov. 14, 2011 file photo shows actress Rachel Dratch at the "24 Hour Play" after-party at B.B. King Blues Club in New York. Dratch and Mo Rocca will be getting down and dirty next month in a play about political sex scandals. The duo will star in “Tail! Spin,” a verbatim mash-up of the public interviews, secret e-mails, raunchy texts and Twitter gaffes that brought down such politicians as former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, ex-Rep. Anthony Wiener, ex-Rep. Mark Foley and former Sen. Larry Craig. The hit of the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival will begin performances on Sept. 18 at Culture Project. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)

MARK KENNEDY, AP Drama Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Public servants who venture downtown this fall may leave blushing: A show that highlights four big political sex scandals is coming back.

The show skewers former Idaho Sen. Larry Craig, onetime New York Rep. Andrew Weiner, ex-Rep. Mark Foley from Florida, and former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford. All were ensnared in sex scandals and initially feigned innocence.

The script — by Mario Correa, a co-host of Entertainment Weekly's daily "News & Notes" program on SiriusXM — uses only the public comments, tweets, statements, instant messages, e-mails, and text messages from the disgraced politicians.

"You see each of these guys doing the same behavior," said Dratch. "It's like they can't resist. I don't know if some of them were always like this and they may have done these things no matter what job they had."

The former member of the famed Second City comedy troupe, Dratch was most recently onstage in "Love's Labour's Lost" at the Delacorte Theater as part of the Shakespeare in the Park summer program.

Dratch, who plays various wives, would-be lovers and Barbra Walters in "Tail! Spin!," said it's fun to get back to her hectic sketch comedy days. "I'm basically all the women," she said.

The show, at the Culture Project's Lynn Redgrave Theatre on Bleecker Street will be directed by Tony-nominee Dan Knechtges, who also helmed "Lysistrata Jones." Casting for the hubris-laden mal parts will be announced later. Tickets range from $25-$75.